Talented Preparatory School chess players have reached the semi-finals of a national competition.

The U11 and U9 teams at Rydal Penrhos performed exceptionally at the National Primary Schools’ Team Chess Competition quarter finals, which were held in Wallasey on Saturday, February 28.

In what was a dominant performance throughout, the U9 team of Grace Watkins, Trystan Griffiths, Liam Farrell, Jonah Craddock, together with twins Rhys and Harry Buttle accumulated 22.5 points out of a possible 25 to finish runaway winners.

Catching the eye in particular were Grace and Trystan, who both scored maximum points from their contests.

There was even further success in the form of Rydal Penrhos’ U11 team of Jonathan Osbourne, George Watkins, Christian Cheesley, Llion Morris and Adam McGuigan, who recovered from an indifferent start to finish in third place and book their semi-final slot in the process.

Both sides will now begin preparing for the National semi-finals, which will take place in June.

Head of Chess Andrew Camp, said: “It was a marvellous effort from everyone involved and they all performed brilliantly.

“For the U9 team to finish nine points clear of their nearest rivals was a tremendous achievement, and for Grace and Trystan to get maximum points was superb.

“Despite the U11s making a bad start and playing catch up throughout, their 5-0 win in the final game ensured they not only qualified, but made it to the podium.

“This was quite an achievement since four out of our five players were Year 5s and most the other teams were all Year 6s, so they were competing against older and more experienced opposition.”